Hernan Hernandez

Hernan and Hector Hernandez, aka The Investment Brothers, both began their careers in the real estate industry in the early 90’s – first as realtors and eventually as investors in the South-Central Los Angeles area.  Over the last 25+ years they have done close to 1,500 projects totaling well over $150M in deal flow.  Their mission is to empower people who are interested in achieving long term wealth in real estate with the tools and professional systematic process necessary to learn how to resource, purchase, and profit from residential real estate opportunities. The master class series of modules is designed to teach a bottom-up approach on the entire fix and flip as well as wholesaling process.  Everything from finding good opportunities to making sure you exit the deals quickly and for healthy profits, all while managing the downside risk.

Under the mentorship of the co-founder of the largest hard money lender in the U.S. as of 2019, Hernan and Hector have gained extensive knowledge on negotiating & structuring favorable terms, financing through cross-collateralization, purchasing with no money down, professional wholesaling, risk management and much more.  All of these topics and more are covered in the master class series.  They have seen a need in the marketplace for quality real world educational content in the flipping and wholesaling industries and their purpose is to fill that need with The Real Estate Master Class Series.

Where did the idea for The Investment Brothers come from?

The  Investment Brothers came from many people asking how do we source so many good deals? Many folks in our industry struggle to find investment deals to fix and flip or to wholesale, but our unique systematic approach has yielded us deals year after year. Therefore we decided to provide detailed hands-on knowledge to help those in our industry who have this similar need.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Our typical day starts with going over our current pipeline of deal flow and open transactions to ensure that we are on track to close what we have in escrow or in closing with title. Right after that meeting we ramp up our marketing platform to create new business either on a local level or out of state. Right now, the greatest transfer of wealth is happening in the United States through Real Estate.

How do you bring ideas to life?

The best way we have found to bring ideas to life is by reverse engineering. Looking at the need at hand and asking ourselves what it will take to make this a reality. Looking at all the pitfalls and making sure that our plan of action covers all these aspects. There is always the pandora’s box or the caveat to overcome, but that’s part of the process in an endeavor to become successful. As they say, if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The  current trend that most excites us right now is what is known as the Silver Tsunami. The greatest transfer of wealth transpiring right now is happening through Real Estate. Baby Boomers are now selling most if not all of their assets now for the next 5 years or so. It’s an opportunity trend that will not last forever.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Education. Either through audio books or good old fashion reading. This never gets old. The habit to learn and grow will never get old. I believe this is a cornerstone of all successful entrepreneurs.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t sell anything you buy. It’s amazing to think how happy we are when we buy something and sell it for a great profit thinking you made a killing. Then you look back at the values now on what you owned and say to yourself. I should have kept that property.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

That you can find the needle in the haystack. Most real estate agents/ investors don’t realize you can target market your sellers by all your standard criteria as well as by sellers age. Imagine being able to pick out the baby boomers in the area you have chosen to work and know out of all the records you have on your farm which are the best to target. The true cream of the crop!

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

The  best advice I can give someone regarding this question is to consistently break down your business model and prospecting approach. No matter how good you think you are or your prospecting process, there is always room for growth. In the words of “Jack Welch” the minute you stop innovating yourself you start to die on the vine.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

I would not call this a strategy, but more of a niche. After several years of trial and error, we have been able to create our own unique marketing lists for cities or states across the United states. Most of our competitors have to go out and buy third party data only to market to a list of sellers that are already being targeted by so many other investors/ agents. Our niche list is unique to our criteria and is a master list created and owned by solely by us.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Not being patient with the process. All things in life require a process of development. Understanding this at an early age would have helped me stick with certain processes much longer instead of being impatient. With time and patience I would have mastered certain crafts and niches faster by sticking to the process.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

The best idea I can share with all of the readers is to target sellers who are 60 years and older that own non-owner occupied properties. By far that is where there is a gold mind of wealth in Real Estate. This is where the biggest transfer of wealth is happening.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The best $100.00 I have spent both personally and for business is in education. The return on your investment is infinite. There is a jewel of a book I would recommend. This is part of my $100.00 investment. The little Back Book of Connections by Jeffrey Gitomer. That book has made us millions of dollars. It taught me to create a need in my industry and then be the answer to the problem you helped create. It’s a must read.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Ezcomps.net. This is one of our tools that helps us comp properties on a nationwide level. It provides us all the data we need to help make offers nation wide as well as help us identify nationwide hedge funds that we now currently work with on a consistent basis.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Effectively Closing The Sale: A Deep Dive into The Psyches of The Four Types of Real Estate Sellers. It is a book I have written to help Real Estate Investors and Agents nationwide understand how to communicate with sellers. Most agents and investors lose the deal simply because they just don’t understand how to communicate with sellers or how they process information. Having an ability to understand how a seller processes information is a huge advantage over them and your competitors.

What is your favorite quote?

“Put yourself in front of those who have the Power to say Yes or No to you” By Hernan Hernandez

This ensures that when you are presenting your product you have the decision maker in front of you.

Key Learnings:

• Patience truly is key.
• The minute you stop innovating yourself you start to die on the vine.
• Continuing education is so important to keep learning and growing